Cape Cod Canal railroad bridge passes fireworks test

Following a late morning test, the US Army Corps of Engineers cleared the proposal to light fireworks off the iconic Cape Cod Canal bridge as part of the full display July 29.

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By C. Ryan Barber

capecodtimes.com

By C. Ryan Barber

Posted May. 23, 2014 at 2:00 AM

By C. Ryan Barber
Posted May. 23, 2014 at 2:00 AM

» Social News

BUZZARDS BAY — In the two years he attended the Massachusetts Maritime Academy, Matthew J. Shea would look down the Cape Cod Canal and dream of climbing up the Buzzards Bay Railroad Bridge.

Nearly 30 years later, Shea made it to the top on Thursday to prove that Atlas PyroVision Productions could safely highlight the bridge with fireworks come the canal's centennial celebration in July.

Following a late morning test, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers cleared the proposal to light fireworks off the iconic bridge as part of the full display July 29.

The decision came almost immediately after a team from Atlas PyroVision, the company that puts on the annual July 4 Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular, set off about a half-dozen fireworks from one of the bridge's turrets and out over its tracks.

Local public safety officials and Larry Davis, who is the Corps' canal manager, stood in the center of the bridge as it was raised above the canal to get a better view.

The test amounted to just a fraction of the full display, which will feature pyrotechnics shooting up from both turrets and the full length of the tracks against a backdrop of pyrotechnics blasting off from one or two barges.

"Everything is going to be shot horizontally off the bridge, which is going to be very cool because what it's going to do is define the line of the bridge," said Shea, the fireworks company's vice president, who is designing the display. "It will be very impressive."

Worried that the display would damage the track or pose a safety hazard, the Corps had initially resisted appeals to light fireworks off the bridge. But Rear Adm. Richard Gurnon, president of the Massachusetts Maritime Academy and co-chairman of the centennial steering committee, said the bridge display would help create an image that would "go international."

And, Gurnon said, the fireworks company asked to talk to the Corps.

Gurnon said the Corps was "appropriately worried about the safety of the bridge" given its age, adding that it is covered in grease to move down for the railroad and back up to allow ships to pass through the canal.

"Pyrotechnics have a scary name to them," said Gurnon. "Thankfully the professionals could assuage those fears."

Davis and other canal officials could not be reached for comment after Thursday's test.

Bourne Police Chief Dennis Woodside and Deputy Fire Chief David Pelonzi also stood atop the bridge during the evaluation, and both said they were confident in the safety of the display.

Shea said the Corps' concerns about the bridge were no different from the National Football League's when the company arranges fireworks at Gillette Stadium, but he never questioned the safety of the display.

"I didn't have any concerns at all," he said. "There's a lot of room there. It's high enough off the water, far away from people. It's a steel bridge. However, everything has a process."